J. Allen Brack on Cataclysm: "Each thing appeals to a different type of player"
by Matthew Rossi 
Nov 30th 2010 at 10:00PM
Also? Turns out that Barrens chat can never die. In addition, the discussion of the worgen and goblin inclusion was very welcome, and of course, the discussion on whether Outland and Northrend will get the Cataclysm treatment.
J. Allen Brack - Guardian interviewWe have started to talk about what we need to do with Outland and Northrend because the story that we are telling in Cataclysm is kind of interesting once you get to Outland. Because there's no congruity between the two stories.
It feels a little weird for you to have the whole Deathwing is back and has destroyed the world, and you walk into Outland and your like 'hey! There's this guy Illidan' That feels a little weird and we don't exactly know how we're going to tackle that yet, but that is definitely something that we do want to find a solution for.
Head on over to the Guardian and read for yourself.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Zedlav Nov 30th 2010 10:10PM
I suggest they make it something that relates to the Cavern of Time. Chromie can be like "Hey! Them Infinite Dragonflight is all messin' things up again. Go back to when Illidan was alive and make sure he dies!"
Alcoma Nov 30th 2010 10:15PM
While it seems like a simple solution....
^THIS
N-train Nov 30th 2010 10:28PM
I think they're avoiding that for two reasons:
A) It doesn't really resolve the Northrend part of it, and using that same answer for both continents would get all manner of "wtf Blizz is so lazy" from the playerbase.
B) (More Importantly) It's just an excuse to make them relevant, it doesn't do anything to further the story. Half the reason the revamped old world is so much fun now is because the stories have advanced, and by putting Outland in CoT means that it should be exactly the same.
I'd rather them introduce a new villain (maybe something to do with the Burning Legion) who is attacking Outland and trying to destroy the Lich King once and for all, therefore allowing Blizz to advance the stories and make those old continents relevant.
Saeadame Nov 30th 2010 11:24PM
I think I would like to see the continents of Outland and Northrend actually advanced to be with the current story, but I've always thought the Caverns of Time would be an elegant solution of what to do with those "epic" end of expansion raids. The only raids they've taken out so far have been kind of "side story" raids (ZG), and not "main story" raids. So, I think they could add a Black Temple wing and an Ice Crown wing to the Caverns of Time, and then completely change Outland and Northrend while still allowing players to go back and do those raids if they want to.
DrHockey Nov 30th 2010 11:42PM
@Saeadame
I don't know that making the main/epic raids into CoT instances and leaving the rest of the content as is would work in terms of story. The whole reason for being in Northrend is to marshal forces to bring down Arthas. If Arthas is defeated and can only be accessed through CoT, why even go to Northrend? Something would need to be altered in the non raid content for he story to make sense.
I always thought they would treat all of BC and WotLK as CoT events. It's the easy way out but you could say the player needs more experience if he/she is to battle Deathwing.
DruidRod Dec 1st 2010 12:24AM
(drawing diagram on chalkboard). You see, what happened is that when we rode the new epic Delorean mount through the dark portal, it somehow sent us back in time and into an alternate reality. A reality where Illidan is still alive, Arthas hasn't yet attacked Azeroth, and for some reason, we have a chalkboard in our living room.
Noselacri Dec 1st 2010 12:25AM
Outland: Chromie/CoT storyline.
Northrend: Rename Arthas/Bolvar. Change about 30 quests.
Done.
Tooth Dec 1st 2010 1:07AM
Questionable dudeness notwithstanding, I'm all for a solution that adds more Chromie.
Thon Dec 1st 2010 6:07AM
With Outland I don't have many ideas; they could just do a Timeline-issue there. But as I see it with Northrend, whenever they go back and update it, there are tons of things they could do. For example, it could show how Northrend was affected by the cataclysm (what with everyone down focusing on Deathwing, nobody really knew (or cared) what happened there) But that might be a good idea for an update. Also, we could wrap up the Drakkari storyline (We still haven't even seen their leader: Frost King Malakk) Also, where's our Azjol'Nerub zone?!
There are so many ideas you could do with Northrend, and I'd be happy to see some of them fulfilled. It's just Outland that's a bit tricky, but I'm sure they could make a story there too, if not just a timeline-problem-based one.
gboyd Dec 1st 2010 8:33AM
My solution for both problems is this...
Before the Outland was shattered, Nerzhul was said to have opened many portals to other worlds, it created an instability that ripped Dreanor apart creating the Outland. We are still missing two of the Alliance heroes (Turalyon and Alleria) that entered the Dark Portal to sever the link between Dreanor and Azeroth. When we finally arrived in the Outland, they were no where to be seen.
To fix the Outland, how about building a new expansion around it, To find Turalyon and Alleria, we must travel to a distant world by fixing one of the many portals that Nerzhul created prior to the destruction of Dreanor. In doing so, much like in Cataclysm, the Outland zones could be updated with more recent events, new villians can arise in the zone and the outland can be transformed to the staging ground for leading an attack into this new world, possibly the twisting nether.
As far as updating Northrend, well, Bolvar being the new LK was a move that I'm sure Blizzard made so that they could "plant the seeds" for future villains. We know little about this new Lich King other than the man he once was. Who's to say what the Dragons Fire has, Arthas's torture, and controlling legions of the undead, has done to his mind. I could easily see a new mission to Northrend, that could update storylines, develop in which we need to address this new being.
N-train Nov 30th 2010 10:22PM
"Converting Stormwind into a flyover city was about a year of work. And about a year for Orgrimmar."
Damn.
Other than that, nothing we haven't really heard before. But a year for each of those cities, makes you wonder how long back they've really been working on Cata.
Drakkenfyre Nov 30th 2010 10:31PM
They said they started on it before they finished the last expansion.
I just hope we don't get a total makeover where Hellfire Pennisula is all happy-go-lucky with the Burning Legion defeated. Shattrath City being even more of a stop-over in between your quests and the Aldor/Scyer storyline completely gone, Nagrand being some peaceful area that is completely under Horde control, and Zangarmarsh being completely overhauled since Vael is gone.
cocoboom Nov 30th 2010 10:42PM
overused image is overused. and the shown models outdated.
Eudeyrn Nov 30th 2010 11:01PM
Thanks for pointing that out. Next time, I'll make sure to visit your massively-trafficked WoW blog instead, so I don't see recycled image headers.
cocoboom Nov 30th 2010 11:26PM
In that case I'd recommend mmo-champion to you, more news and less fluff to the point of not even utilizing random images as eyecatchers.
If you prefer drama and random meta posts on WoW you may still read this blog :)
jfofla Nov 30th 2010 11:40PM
Overused cliche is, well... You know...
Jeff Nov 30th 2010 11:43PM
Boy, somebody's bitter.
Somebody on WoW.com hurt your feelings?
cocoboom Nov 30th 2010 11:44PM
...to my general shock and disbelief true.
cocoboom Nov 30th 2010 11:48PM
Jeff: don't project your own shortcomings and character flaws onto me please.
Rin Dec 1st 2010 12:06AM
Successful troll is successful!